


I Gave Everything for You

by Rose_The_Reaper



Series: Romancing the Guildmaster [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Betrayal, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Pregnancy, Running Away, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 10:47:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16135664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_The_Reaper/pseuds/Rose_The_Reaper
Summary: Following the Blindsighted questline with different outcomes.





	I Gave Everything for You

**Author's Note:**

> An older fic that I didn't edit/proofread. I wish in the Thieves Guild questline you could choose to side with Karliah or Mercer....oh well. Enjoy.

I dismounted my horse a few metres away from where Mercer was waiting for me at Snow Veil Sanctum.  I was debating over whether or not I should tell Mercer that I saw his plans.  I figured I should just tell him now, just in case Karliah killed one of us.

                “Good, you’re here,” he said as I approached. “I’m certain Karliah’s inside.”

                “Did you see her?” I asked.

                “No, but I found her horse.  I took care of it though.  Let’s get going, you’re in charge.”

                “I understand.  Mercer, before we go in there, I want to tell you something.” I said.

                “Make it quick, we don’t want Karliah getting away,” he said.

                “I saw that you plan to go to Irkngthand to steal the Falmer eyes and I want to help you.” I said.

                “What use could you have to me?  My plan is complete, all I have to do is kill Karliah, get the eyes and leave Skyrim.” He said.

                “Wait, Mercer, I could steal from the vault, that way we’ll have enough coin to leave Skyrim behind and start anew.”

                “The Falmer eyes will give me the coin I need, Amara,” he said, referring to my real name.

                “Mercer, if I rob the vault, we’d have extra septims just lying around for us to spend.  Those eyes won’t last too long.” I said.

                “You’d have to leave Brynjolf,” he said.

                “So?  I never cared for Brynjolf.  I’ve only had eyes for you, Mercer.” I said, a slight blush forming on my pale cheeks.

                “Fine.  Once we deal with Karliah, you will have three days to make it from here to Riften and to Irkngthand.  Do you understand?”

                “I understand Mercer.”

                “Excellent, let’s go.” He said, and I began leading the way down the stairs.

                 I tried opening the door but it wouldn’t budge.

                “They say these ancient Nordic burial mounds are impenetrable.  This one doesn’t look too difficult.” Mercer said as he approached the door, pulling out a lock-pick. “Quite simple really, I don't know what the fuss is about these locks. All it takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill.”

                Within a few seconds, Mercer had the door open and gestured for me to go first.  I moved slowly and carefully, ensuring that I didn’t make any noise that would alert either Karliah or draugr to our position.  We continued in this fashion until we reached a Nordic puzzle door.

                “Ah, it's one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. Without the matching claw, they're normally impossible to open.  I'm certain Karliah already did away with the key. Fortunately, these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploit it.  Quite simple, really. Karliah's close. I'm certain of it.” Mercer said as he unlocked the puzzle door.

                “Impressive,” I whispered as I passed him.

                As soon as I passed through the threshold of the door, an arrow struck my right shoulder and I collapsed.

                _Paralysis poison, perfect_ , I thought to myself as I slowly drifted out of consciousness.

                Within a few moments, I had begun to regain consciousness and I saw Karliah drink an invisibility potion.  Mercer kept his guard up for a few seconds, then sheathed his weapons and walked over to me.

                “My poor Nightshade,” he said, calling me by my nickname and caressing my cheek, which I couldn’t feel.

 He then pressed his lips against mine and stood back up.  He withdrew his weapons and I began to panic.

                “This isn’t personal.  Karliah is bound to help you and if she does, run a sword through her.  Our offer still stands.  See you in three days.” He said then stabbed his sword into my stomach.  I wanted to scream in agony but I couldn’t, every cell in my body was paralyzed.  Everything then faded to black around me.

                I woke up in pain.  I slowly sat up and found myself face to face with Karliah.

                “Why the hell did you save me?” I asked.

                “I figured you could help me stop Mercer.  He needs to pay for Gallus’ murder.” She said.

                “Solve your own problems.” I muttered, getting to my feet, stumbling slightly.  I saw that I was in my underclothes and began searching for my things.

                “That poison saved your life.” She said, handing me my things.

                “How so?”

                “It prevented you from bleeding out from Mercer’s wound.” She said.  “Now you know who I am, but I can’t say I know who you are.”

                “Nightshade.” I said, pulling on my Thieves Guild armour.

                “That’s an unusual name,” she commented.

                “It’s what people called me in my Dark Brotherhood days.  Every kill I made, it was with a weapon poisoned with nightshade.  And I always left a nightshade flower as a calling card.” I explained. “But killing wasn’t enough so I moved on and found the Thieves Guild and began leaving nightshade in every place I stole from.”

                “Interesting.” She said.

                “It was nice meeting you, but I have to be off.” I said, strapping my weapons to my armour.

                “You must help me!  Please!” she begged.  “You can’t side with Mercer, he tried to kill you.”

                “Actually, it was all part of his plan.” I said, pulling out my elven dagger and advancing on Karliah. “He injured me because he knew you would save me and try to get me on your side, but I’m on Mercer’s side and he told me to kill you.”

                “Wait, I can give you riches beyond what Mercer is giving you.” She said as I kicked her to the ground.

                “Doubtful.” I said, lowering my dagger to her throat. “Any last words?”

                She angrily spat in my face and I slammed my dagger down through her throat.  I pulled it out and began cleaning it off on her armour.  There was no way Karliah could survive a fatal, poisoned wound like that.  I got up, placed a nightshade flower on her corpse, hopped on my horse and rode to Riften.

                It took me quite a few hours before I finally made it to Riften.  The long trip gave me a lot of time to think of a plan for the rest of the Guild to let me into the vault.  I entered the Guild through the secret passage in the cemetery and ran to Brynjolf.

                “Brynjolf!  You have to help me!” I said, sounding as frantic as I could.

                “What is it lass?” he asked, gripping my shoulders in concern.

                “Karliah murdered Mercer!” I cried, allowing fake tears to spill down my face.

                “Where is she lass?  We have to stop her.”

                “I killed her.” I said with a sniff. “After she shot Mercer with a poisoned arrow, she moved to finish me off but I was able to stop her from killing me.  Once Karliah was dealt with I ran to Mercer.  With his dying breath he told me he left me some letters in the vault.”

                “I don’t recall him ever putting letters in the vault but I believe you lass.  Wait right here, I’m going to grab Delvin’s key.” He said before leaving.  I sniffed a few times, keeping up my act. 

                A few moments later, Delvin and Brynjolf appeared back in the cistern and lead the way to the door.  They unlocked it and remained just outside the door as I walked in.  I knelt in front of the nearest chest and opened it.  I set both my hands in, pulling the fake letters out of my sleeves.  I then pulled the letters out for Delvin and Brynjolf to see and pretended to read them. 

                I made myself cry even harder, pretending I read something extremely heartfelt.

                “Mercer!” I cried, hugging the letters to myself.

                “We’ll leave you for a bit, lass.” Brynjolf said. “Let us know when you’re done and we’ll lock up.”

                I nodded and sniffed.  They closed the door almost all the way and I immediately began stuffing all the loot into the extra bags I usually carried on me.  Once the entire vault was cleared out, I opened the door, nodded to Brynjolf and left the Guild.

                I then got on my horse and began riding to Irkngthand.  I knew I had time on my side but I wanted to get out of Skyrim with Mercer before Brynjolf realised I robbed them.

                When I arrived, I saw that Mercer had set up a small camp outside of the ruin.  I ran to the camp and stood in front of Mercer.

                “You’re early.  Did you get the loot?” he asked and I held up the bursting bags of loot.

                I sat down next to him and he wrapped an arm around me.

                “Karliah’s dead.” I said.

                “I knew she wouldn’t resist saving you.” He said.  “Did it scar?”

                “I never checked.” I said.

                “Well, it’s getting dark, we should try to get some rest.  We’ll grab the Falmer eyes first thing in the morning and head out of Skyrim after that.” Mercer said, going into the small tent and settling onto a bedroll.  I shivered slightly, the cool weather getting to me after a long day of travel. 

                I entered the tent as well, sitting on my bedroll as I unwound my dark brown hair from the braid I kept it in.  I pulled off the top part of my Thieves Guild armour and curled up in my bedroll, trying to preserve some of my body heat.

                Mercer must have sensed that I was cold, because he shifted over and placed an arm over me, his hand resting on my stomach.  He then placed his other arm by my head, occasionally caressing my hair.  Exhausted from a day of traveling, I allowed myself to be overcome by sleep.

                “Amara, it’s time to go,” Mercer whispered in my ear, gently shaking me awake.  I sat up and stretched, my undershirt riding up slightly.  Mercer saw the scar he had left and gently pulled my shirt up, exposing the wound further.  The wound was scabbed along the edges, but the rest was still open.  Mercer ran his hand gently across it.

                “It’s not that bad,” I said, grabbing his hand and holding it as I grabbed a healing potion.               

                “I could have killed you,” he muttered as I drank the potion, the wound fully scabbing.

                “Karliah’s paralysis poison prevented me from bleeding out,” I said, tugging my shirt down.  I then moved the cloth covering the wound from Karliah’s arrow and studied it.  It was a small, circular wound, a bit bigger than a septim.  I then pulled on my Thieves Guild armour and began slinging bags of loot over my shoulders.

                “Let’s go,” he said and we made our way through the ruin.  After hours of trekking carefully, we finally made it to the large snow elf statue. 

                “Truly magnificent,” I whispered to myself, as Mercer began climbing up the large statue.  I remained quiet, not wanting to distract him.  I watched as he carefully pulled the eyes and placed them in his satchel.  He quickly climbed down and pulled the eyes from his bag, showing me their brilliance. 

                He placed one of them into my hand, and pocketed the other one.

                “One for each of us,” he said.

                I studied the eye, amazed at its size.  It was as large as both of my hands and a pale colour that shimmered even in the dim light of the cave.  I placed it with the other loot and noticed that the water level was rising.

                “Mercer, we can’t go back the way we came,” I said and pointed.

                “What?  Shit.”  He quickly glanced around the cave, searching for a way out.  My heart began to race in panic.  I did not want to die like this.  I glanced up and saw a hole in the ceiling.

                “Mercer, look, an opening.” I said.

                “Good eye.  We’ll have to wait until the water level reaches that exit.  Do you think you’ll be able to stay above the water that long?” he asked as water began pooling around our feet.

                “Yes.” I said and we waited.  Within a few moments the water was at our chins and we began treading water as the water continued to rise around us.  The water finally reached the exit and we crawled through, sprinting through the cavern and making it outside.

                The frigid air clung to my wet armour, freezing my skin.  Mercer and I made it to our makeshift camp and lit a fire, huddling around it for warmth.  We stripped off our wet armour and huddled under a bed roll next to the fire. 

                “I hate Dwemer ruins,” I muttered as I huddled closer to Mercer, who wrapped his arms around me.

                “You and me both.  I’m never setting foot in one again.” He said.

                “We won’t need to, not with all this loot we have,” I said.

                “Speaking of never setting foot in places,” he sat up and pulled out a map of both Skyrim and Cyrodiil and began studying it.

                “We’re going to Cyrodiil?” I asked.

                “Yes.  Any city preferences?” he asked.

                “Somewhere not too large but not too small.” I answered.

                “How about Chorrol?” he asked, pointing to the map.  “It’s a good enough distance from Skyrim and if we need to, we can easily make it to Hammerfell in a few hours.”

                “Sounds good.” I said, resting my head against his shoulder.

                “We’ll leave once our armour is dry,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist.

                Once our armour was finally dry, we dressed ourselves, hopped on our horses and began our long journey to Chorrol. 

                “It should take us a little over four hours to reach the border.” Mercer said before he urged his horse into a gallop.  I followed with my horse, urging it to keep up with Mercer.

                Like Mercer said, it took us a few hours to reach the border into Cyrodiil.  When we did, we were stopped by Imperial soldiers.

                “Hold there, what’s your business going into Cyrodiil?” the soldier asked.

                “My wife and I wish to live our married lives away from war.  And the weather is getting to my dear wife’s health.” Mercer said.

                “Alright, go on through.” The soldier waved us through and I tossed them a small coin purse in thanks.

                Once we were a good distance away from the border, I turned to Mercer.

                “Wife?  Weather affecting my health?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

                “It worked, didn’t it?  That’s all that matters.” He said with a shrug. “Now I don’t want to spend any time in an inn, especially with the amount of loot we have on us.  We’ll continue as far as we can without rest.”

                “Alright,” I said, as we urged our horses to go as fast as they could.

                The next day we had made it into the town of Chorrol, stopping briefly the night before to rest.  Mercer asked around about houses for sale and with luck on our side, found a large house that lay far from the city, yet still in the city walls.  The house had a stable and a small garden.  When we arrived at it, I couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

                “Mercer, its lovely!” I said, beaming at him.

                He smiled at me and led me inside.  The main floor had a kitchen and dining area in the entry area.  A bit further back was a living room with a few bookshelves and a fire place.  In the back of the house was a spacious bathing room.  The second floor had two small bedrooms and one large one.  The house was somewhat furnished, but we definitely would need to buy more things.

                Since it was a bit late, we finished off our food and went to bed together in the larger bedroom.  Mercer fell asleep almost instantly, while I struggled a bit to fall sleep.  I eventually wrapped my arms around Mercer and hugged him close to me, inhaling his leathery, musky scent.

                “I’ve always admired you,” I whispered, knowing that he wouldn’t hear me.  I fell asleep, holding his warm body close to mine.

                “Amara,” I heard Mercer say, and I opened my eyes, groaning at the brightness of the room.  Mercer planted a quick, chaste kiss before getting up.

                “Where are you going?” I asked, getting out of bed as well.

                “To the market to grab some food.  I might see if there are any cheap furnishings anywhere.” He said.  “I’ll be back soon.”

                He gave me a quick kiss, then left, leaving me in the large house alone.  I got up, and began pulling on a spare set of cotton clothes I had.  As I rummaged through our bags of belongings, a small book fell out.  Curious, I flipped it open and realized it was a journal.  I flipped to the more recent pages and began reading.

                _8 th of Frostfall_

_Brynjolf brought a new recruit into the Guild today.  She appears young, but has the build of a thief upon her.  I hope she is as promising as Brynjolf says.  I will give her the Goldenglow job to see if she’s cut out for our line of work._

_9 th of Frostfall_

_Our new recruit, Nightshade as she goes by, finished the job flawlessly.  She went unnoticed by the mercenaries and was able to easily pick her way into Aringoth’s safe.  She even managed to make it upstairs and steal a Golden Bee Statue, which Delvin was looking for.  I hope she continues to impress me._

_15 th of Sun’s Dusk_

_Nightshade has done a numerous amount of jobs in a short amount of time.  She has somehow managed to restore the entire guild within a month of her joining us.  I have to admit, I am very pleased with the amount of gold she’s been raking in._

_24 th of Sun’s Dusk_

_Nightshade has informed me that Gulum-Ei mentioned someone named Karliah.  It seems after all these years, she has finally caught up with me.  I asked Nightshade to meet me at Snow Veil Sanctum._

_25 th of Sun’s Dusk_

_Nightshade has revealed her entire past to me out of trust and passion.  She felt as though she had to tell someone and wanted to tell me, as I am her Guildmaster.  It seems there is more to our Nightshade than I thought._

_26 th of Sun’s Dusk_

_I am currently waiting for Nightshade.  Something tells me Karliah may manipulate her to join her side and if that happens, I am prepared to murder them both.  At this point, Nightshade was nothing more than a source of income for me.  I never held any true affection for her.  I was only affectionate to the gold she brought in._

_28 th of Sun’s Dusk_

_I have decided to spare Nightshade.  She is to murder Karliah and rob the Guild’s vault of all its riches.  She is of more use than I thought.  It turns out I do have some affections for her, which I realized after Karliah struck her with her poisoned arrow.  When I stabbed my sword through her stomach, it was as if I was stabbing myself.  Nonetheless, I knew that if she remained there injured, Karliah would heal her and try to recruit her to her side.  Nightshade should be here within a few days._

_1 st of Evening Star_

_We obtained the eyes of the Falmer.  I must admit, I am sleeping a lot better with Nightshade by my side.  We arrived in Cyrodiil earlier today.  We should be in Chorrol tomorrow._

I stared in at what I had just read.  I couldn’t believe Mercer was only using me.  I had so much admiration and love for him over the months we spent together.  I knew that I had to confront Mercer about his true feelings.  I went downstairs with his journal, sitting in the dining room, awaiting his return.

                After some time, Mercer walked through the door, carrying sacks of food and lowered them when he saw me.

                “Are you alright?” he asked, noticing my angered expression.

                “I want honest answers.  Now.” I said.

                “What brought this on, Amara?” he asked, but then his eyes settled on his journal.

                “You know damn well what brought this on.” I said.  “I can’t believe you only thought of me as a source of income.”

                “Amara, please, that was some time ago.  I feel differently about you now.”

                “Is that another lie?” I asked, practically spitting the question in his face.

                “Amara, I swear it’s not.”

                 “Why should I believe you?”

                “If I was using you only for the gold, I would have killed you by now.  I wouldn’t have spent a large amount of gold on this house and I wouldn’t have given you the other eye of the Falmer.  If I were lying, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  Trust me when I say that I love you Amara.”

                “You love me?” I asked, dumbfounded.  He moved forwards and gently tilted my head up towards his.

                “You’re such a silly girl.  You killed one of my greatest enemies without question and robbed an entire Guild just for me.  I love the lengths you went for me, and I plan on repaying you in some way.  I also trust you with my life.”

                “Why?” I asked.

                “When you offered to steal from the vault.  I knew that you had three options: steal it all for yourself, not steal from it at all, or return to me.  I trusted you would return to me.” He explained.

                “I apologize, Mercer,” I said.

                “No worries, Amara, you know what they say, ‘never trust a thief’,” he said with a chuckle. 

                “I trust you though.” I said.

                “Interesting that you do.” He said.

                “Why?”

                “I’m the last person anyone would trust.” He said.

                “You’re the first person I’ve ever trusted.” I said.

                “I know.” He said with a kiss.

               

~~~ A few months later

                “Now tell me why we are going back to Riften?” I asked as we rode back to the border of Skyrim.

                “We somehow managed to spend all of our gold.” He said with grim face.

                “I can’t believe it.” I said, then fell silent as Mercer was in a terrible mood.

                I also had the horrible suspicion that I may be pregnant and it worried me.  I had no idea how Mercer would react.  I also was afraid what would go down when we got back to Riften.  I knew Mercer planned on taking over the guild by force.  Any severe blow to my stomach in a fight could be devastating to my child. 

                ~~~

                “Are you ready Amara?” Mercer asked as we hovered over the entrance to the cistern.

                “Yes.” I said as we dropped down.

                The first to spot us was Brynjolf, who grabbed me immediately and held a dagger to my throat.

                “You have a lot of nerve showing up after robbing us blind.” Brynjolf growled in my ear.  “I should cut you open.”

                Mercer ran past me, and began engaging the other thieves in combat.  Brynjolf moved his dagger to my stomach and I panicked.

                “Brynjolf please don’t! I’m pregnant!” I screamed and the entire guild went silent.

                “Amara why didn’t you tell me?” Mercer yelled.

                “I didn’t know how!” I cried and Brynjolf released me and I fell to me knees.

                “Why did you come back?” Brynjolf asked.

                “We were going to take the guild back.” Mercer said, admitting his defeat.

                “Why?”

                “We ran out of gold.” Mercer answered.

                “As much as I hate to admit it, things went to Oblivion when you both left.  I’ll allow you both to run the guild but if you step out of line, you’re both out.  I don’t care about the child. Deal?”

                “Deal.” Mercer and I said in unison.

                After that moment, I was in charge of all the paperwork and finding jobs for the members while Mercer worked in the field.  Things went well and after a few months, our daughter, Dawn was born.  Mercer and I continued to live our lives in peace and thievery while raising our daughter.  And we lived happily for the rest of our time together.


End file.
